The Census asks questions about language use at home to locate groups of people who speak a language other than English. Their isolation or integration into a primarily English speaking community can be determined by their ability to speak English proficiently.
| Language Spoken at Home, 1990-2000 | ||||
| 1990 | 2000 | |||
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Only English | 159,370 | 94.35% | 179,173 | 86.14% |
| Spanish | 3,023 | 1.79% | 17,068 | 8.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,667 | 2.17% | 6,099 | 2.93% |
| Asian Language** | 2,048 | 1.21% | 3,985 | 1.92% |
| Other | 804 | 0.48% | 1,669 | 0.80% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 168,912 | 100.00% | 207,994 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 11,043 | 64.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,502 | 24.63% |
| Asian Language** | 1,306 | 32.77% |
| Other Language | 417 | 24.99% |
| Total | 14,268 | 6.86% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,017 | 33.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 962 | 26.23% |
| Asian Language** | 994 | 48.54% |
| Other Language | 194 | 24.13% |
| Total | 3,167 | 1.87% |
* "Other Indo-European" excludes English and Spanish. "Indo-European" is not synonymous with "European." French, German, Hindi, and Persian are all classified as Indo-European. Hungarian, on the other hand, is lumped into "Other Language."
** "Asian Language" includes languages indigenous to Asia and Pacific islands areas that are not also Indo-European languages. Chinese, Japanese, Telugu, and Hawaiian are all classified here.
Also note that ability to speak English "very well" is based on the self-assessment of those responding to Census questions, not on a test of language ability.
Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).
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